On Wed, March 11th, I had the pleasure of "meating up" with fellow Roadfooder & friend, "Signman", (aka Howard from Baltimore!) Coincidently, he was also on vacation in south Florida, as he's been doing for the last bunch of years to catch baseball spring training games with his buddies...

We met at SONNY'S Famous Hogie's (yes , that's how they spell "hogie")...first time for both of us It's right off of TAFT St., on NW 66th ave, across the street from the Bealle's/Wynn Dixie/Rainbow store shopping center..........it's a bit off the beaten path, though, and a real local's joint! Here's Howard in front of the wonderful dish of hot peppers the hogie bread is made fresh right there!!!! The HAMBURGER HOGIE was to die for!! Best hamburger hogie I ever had! Love the crusty fresh beef!

I usually DO put up many more captions (in my tons of previous reports) Maybe cause I've been slightly out of practice posting reports here on Roadfood, but I was having trouble enough putting up what I did manage to post

I did not find the posting system was user friendly, as least not for ME... that is why my report came out so "mumbled/jumbled"........just ended up putting it up anyway I could...

Me, for example: Bend/Sisters, Oregon today and tomorrow ... then driving the I-90 corridor from Seattle to Western, Mass, starting this weekend.

For what it is worth, I will be driving a half empty truck and would gladly divert a few miles to pick up a payload to help with the ever increasing gas prices. If you know anyone, email me thru the site.

Always used to go to Sonny's when my grandparents lived in Hollywood...I LOVE that place! Believe it or not, still consider their chesesteaks as some of the best I've ever had!!! I would always get the #90 w/provolone....they're small sandwiches but are GREAT!

sorry Ellen - a pic without a caption is simply hard to interpret sometimes.

for example, the final pic

1) Whose sandwich is it? My money would be on it being Howard's. but no caption = I dunno for sure. Could be an extra you bought to take with you, or some random customer let you photograph their sandwich. It happens

2) was it any good? dunno

3) Is it a steak w/ peppers added, or is it some other sandwich?

4) how much did it cost?

5) is there cheese or other ingredients hidden underneath all that meat? If so, what other ingredients are there?

etc etc

This is not a complaint on my part, tho it may seem to be. Having a pic w/no caption is netter than no pic at all, frankly. Rather, it helps to know what one is looking at.

The sandwiches looked great, and the idea of having them on bread baked right there sounds even better. Whos sandwich was the second pic-and what was it? Inquiring minds want to know...

Howard and I BOTH claimed rights to that 2nd sandwich.... as we decided to get one hamburger hogie, and one cheesesteak hogie, and we split them up!

That 2nd sandwich is a provolone CHEESESTEAK HOGIE with fried green peppers and onions, (and with those delectable hot peppers on the side in the metal dish) Here's a pic of the GRILL MAN , who was in action the whole time we were there.... a very busy guy.. There is a BREAD MAN, whose sole job seems to be to keep BAKING these real good ROLLS. We saw him bring out a fresh tray of new rolls to the grill, twice during the time we were there... Anybody for some MUSHROOMS or a side of RED SAUCE?!?

And NOW, for ELLEN'S CHEESESTEAK and HAMBURGER HOGIE VERDICTS:

#1 The CHEESESTEAK Hogie: It was very tasty, but I just did'nt find it extra special, meatwise... it had a slightly tough taste to me, just slightly, though... it was no match to the BEST cheesesteak I've had, just the other week at CHICK'S DELI in Cherry Hill, NJ

#2 The HAMBURGER hogie : Now THIS hogie I DID put in the "BEST Hamburger hogie I ever had" category! It was THAT good!!!!! The only other hamburger hogie's I've had were in my AC area, and the meat preparation was flat grilled, but no crusty taste... I was expecting about the same; a tasty sandwich, but not overwhelming delicious... but I got WAY more than I bargained for at Sonny's.... DELICIOUS! somehow , at Sonny's , they manage to get the meat so crusty, even though it's a flat top grill...

Howard and I watched the grill action , even through the glass window after we left... we noticed that the top sellers were the cheesesteaks, and the FRESH GROUND burgers...

It's good to see you posting trip reports again Ellen. Please keep it up, they are always entertaining and fun to read.

The food looks great, but what really got to me was to see you and Howard sitting around in T Shirts and shorts. It was 27 degrees when I left for work this morning and I'm still wearing wool sweaters under my coat (I have a lot of walking from car to train and train to office in NY so I always dress for the walk).

elln, what did you think of Chick's? make it there twice last month. the owners are great guys. did you get the chicken steak? rusty

I LOVED Chick's cheesesteak!! I got the beef cheesestak, but it sounds like I should try the chicken steak, as well, huh?!?

I met one of the owners, who served me... a very down to earth guy... I told him I would be posting a glowing report of his cheesesteaks on YELP.com later on .... (I do have some succulent looking cheesesteak pics of Chick's on there now...) the place won the "best of Philly, 2003", which is ironic!! (Since it's not even in Philly!!) I'm real impressed that you not only heard about Chick's, but that you actually went there twice! Let's here it for the CONNECTICUT Roadfooders !! Go, Rusty, go..!

elln, what did you think of Chick's? make it there twice last month. the owners are great guys. did you get the chicken steak? rusty

I LOVED Chick's cheesesteak!! I got the beef cheesestak, but it sounds like I should try the chicken steak, as well, huh?!?

I met one of the owners, who served me... a very down to earth guy... I told him I would be posting a glowing report of his cheesesteaks on YELP.com later on .... (I do have some succulent looking cheesesteak pics of Chick's on there now...) the place won the "best of Philly, 2003", which is ironic!! (Since it's not even in Philly!!) I'm real impressed that you not only heard about Chick's, but that you actually went there twice! Let's here it for the CONNECTICUT Roadfooders !! Go, Rusty, go..!

Not to go too far off topic, but is that Chick's the Chick's Deli in Hartford? (I was having trouble finding a report on the RF site, no doubt due to me, not the site). I was curious to add another place to check out on my upcoming Hartford trips. (Two good ones so far this year.)

You are right about the CT RF-ers. I have met only two RF-ers in person so far: Chris (ayersian) (OK, he lives in Massachusetts now) and Mark (doggydaddy). Both were very kind, very gracious, and a lot of fun to spend time with. They, like so many on this site who have shown kindness and help to me and others, are great ambassadors for RF. I count your reports in that category as well and always enjoy them and am inspired by them. Thanks for the time that you take to show us what's out there.